Welcome to the new blog posters on MD. I am posting this to help you out a bit with what could be termed "best practices" in blogging. Mary Kay Ash was fond of saying, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." That being said, read a few blogs and the comments before posting one. Asking questions like, "Any hot ladies want to get nekkid in Bumf***, Egypt?" is a sure way to get women in Bumf*** to move to Saudi Arabia.
Reset your commenting preferences to automatically approve all comments. Myself and many others will not comment unless you do. By default MD preferences are set to require approval before posting the comments. How you changes this is to click on "My Account", all the way over to the right you will see "Comment Settings". You click on it and can change it there.
When you go to post your blog or comment on somebody else's you will see little icons below the text box indicating bold, underline, italics, and quote . Simply highlight the the passage and click the icon.
To make a Web address a hot link, copy the full address, hit the URL button, delete the highlighted "http://", paste the Web address in, click "okay", another dialogue box will come up, click "okay". The image button only works for gold members.
Spell check is a nice tool. I suggest that you use it.
It doesn't happen nearly as often as it used to, but there is potential for people to use your blog as a flame war battleground. MD management holds the blog poster responsible for policing their blog. If people get nasty you can click on the trash can icon next to the comment and delete the comment. You can also from your email, block people from commenting.
I will see blogs that I find intriguing enough to begin to read. They could be compelling, interesting, but they are long. They do not get to their point before I lose interest.
I learned a very valuable lesson that served me well in grad school. A professor said, "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them again." This is the formula that is used in text books, term papers, and even in business thought leadership writing.
Far too often, I see a blog, usually long that has an interesting title, but meanders and rambles so much without making a point that I blow it off, especially if there are misspelled words. It is okay to to express things like theSkwirl does in the into. Then launch into the subject and point/subject that you choose to address clearly pointed out.
If I get past the 200 words and I don't know what you are talking about, I will blow it off. Too many people get emotionally engaged and machine gun stuff with a complete disregard to communicating.
If a blog is one long rambling paragraph, myself and many others will just blow it off. Usually it is viewed as a rant.
Perhaps consider two points: One, do it off line in Word to where you can spell check it. Two, let it go for a while. Come back and see how you can make your point with more clarity in a more convincing fashion. A perspective need not be eternal to be immortal. Be succinct, don't ramble.
Nobody wants to do a failed bit. Use due diligence to discover what is popular as you write for the reader, not yourself. If you have online buds that have been here for a while, run your blog ideas by them.
It has changed in the last nine months due to the growth on the site. Last summer, a blog had a shelf life (appearing on the first page) of 24 hours. It is about a third of that now. At that time the benchmark for a successful male blog was 100 views, over 10 comments, and three kudos.
One thing you don't want to do is post something today only to discover that it is a rerun as somebody else posted the same thing within the past month. If you have a bud on here that has been keeping up on the blogs, ask them about your topic so you don't post a rerun.
Lastly, separate yourself from your blog. Say what, you ask? Write your blog objectively. Then post a comment on your own blog with your own personal sentiments.
Copy & paste to friend: (Click inside box; Ctrl + C to copy; Ctrl + V to paste)
|
|
read more blogs!
|
summerbreeze916
|
Nov 25 @ 9:56AM
|
|
Excellent blog! Kudo to you and to it............... 
|
|
Peabianjay
|
Nov 25 @ 11:00AM
|
|
Excellent advice, well written, and good pointers for not-so-newbies, too.
Of course, not all of us are equally skilled in writing. Clarity isn't always easy.
I'm willing to put some effort into reading your blog, if you're willing to put some effort into writing it.
|
|
KnittinKitten
|
Nov 25 @ 2:00PM
|
|
Great QUALITY, USEFUL Blog...I'm going to print it out because, even though I'm not a Newbie, I have not yet tried some of the applications you mentioned.
I'm glad you mentioned spelling errors....After reading several of them (not necessarily typos), I lose interest and sometimes stop reading. I also find it difficult to read one long rambling paragraph. They are so easily corrected....IF THE POSTER CARES!.
A kudo is on its way!.
Fondly,
KK
|
|
misschief
|
Nov 25 @ 2:22PM
|
|
|
~*~
|
|
Tunes4u
|
Nov 25 @ 2:55PM
|
|
Or you could just sit down at your keyboard and open a vein....without talking to anyone about it at all.
That usually works pretty good to two too.
It has changed in the last nine months due to the growth on the site
This site has been getting smaller for 3 years....When I joined there was 1300 people on line at most any given time. Right now there is 500.....
Jest saying....
There are some good ideas in this blog, but by no means are they the only way.....be creative....it's good for you .
|
|
ttomtarr
|
Nov 25 @ 3:43PM
|
|
Good Blog !
Kudo to you.
|
|
|